Chapter 29
Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and the year on the calendar will add another year. On social media, many people are posting New Year's greetings. Zhuoran's family gathered together and took pictures around Zhuoran's newborn nephew. Li Rui's parents came back, and the boy took a very artistic picture of the shadows of the family of three. Liang Jing's family splashed around in the sea in Hainan and even posted pictures of steaming dumplings.
The hotel room was dimly lit, with only a sheer curtain covering the room. Outside the window lay vast darkness, and all around...
It was Jiang Xiaoyu, who was still fast asleep.
It's 9 a.m. in Norway. Mr. Jiang's biological clock has been disrupted by the polar night in the Arctic Circle. He is still sleeping soundly, wearing a light blue pajama with a polar bear print. He is lying on his pillow with several red marks on his cheeks.
Lu Mingxiao knew that although Jiang Xiaoyu seemed to be sleeping soundly, she would definitely wake up if there was even the slightest noise in the room.
So Lu Mingxiao didn't move after waking up. He quietly took two "bed photos" of President Jiang with his phone, then lay there scrolling through his phone for a while. He noticed that everyone was posting on their WeChat Moments, so he joined in and posted some landscape photos he had taken over the past two days.
He did not send his location.
Given his family's financial situation, posting a location like "Jiliwa Island" would only make people think he's using some kind of high-tech trick to show off. He has many friends, and it quickly attracted a wave of comments.
[Li Rui]: Brother, why didn't you take me with you when you went to Beiji Village?
[Lu Mingxiao]: It's not Arctic Village, it's Mixue Ice City.
[Li Rui gave it a thumbs up]
[Zhuoran]: Wow, Xiao Ge, I saw two shadows. Did you go out with Yu Ge?
[Lu Mingxiao]: Right, there are two shadows. Where did you find them? Are you a detective?
[Zhuoran]: Hehe~
[Zhuoran gives a thumbs up]
[Big-eared, squealing donkey]: wer~ Longyearbyen, isn't this~
[The big-eared, bellowing donkey gets a thumbs up]
[Fu Yucheng]: Brother Xiao, I want to ask you for a favor.
[Lu Mingxiao]: No way, you can't even call me Brother Xiao.
Fu Yucheng canceled his "like"
“He’s still got a heart of a thief…” Lu Mingxiao muttered to himself.
"Huh?" Jiang Huaiyu opened her eyes, rubbing them groggily. "Who's the thief?"
"Nobody." Lu Mingxiao turned off his phone. "President Jiang, if we don't get up now, we'll miss today's schedule."
Young Master Jiang's muddled eyes cleared, and he immediately got up to wash up. In the bathroom, he mumbled a complaint: "Why didn't you wake me?"
"Oh dear~ there's still time, I wanted you to sleep a little longer..." Lu Mingxiao slowly followed him into the bathroom. Seeing Jiang Huaiyu squeezing toothpaste, he handed her his toothbrush. Jiang Huaiyu squeezed toothpaste onto his toothbrush, and the two brushed their teeth and washed up side by side.
The two of them finished washing up as quickly as if they were going to be late for school, and went downstairs to the hotel lobby to meet the old man who was their guide. The old man was even a few minutes late, and he brought them local handicrafts as gifts.
Driving along, their headlights piercing the frigid Arctic night, they set off once again to complete today's checklist.
Along the way, the old man gave a very professional introduction to the scenery and people on the island. Jiang Huaiyu listened quietly and then told Lu Mingxiao about it.
"Grandpa said that all the colors painted on these houses on the island had to be registered locally before they could be painted. In order to make the buildings more harmonious with nature, all the colors had to come from the Svalbard archipelago itself. For example, gray is the glacier at night, yellow is the first ray of sunlight jumping out of the valley, and dark blue is the midday sky during the polar night..."
As he spoke, he pointed to a green house not far away: "Like this one..."
“It’s the aurora,” Lu Mingxiao said.
Jiang Huaiyu nodded: "Yes."
They're going to go dog sledding today.
The owner of the sledding business was actually unwilling to receive guests in the polar night environment. It is easy to encounter snow and wind here, the visibility is poor, and it is the polar night. In addition, most tourists are driving sleds for the first time, which greatly increases the possibility of accidents. He could not afford to take that responsibility.
Unfortunately, this young guest was just too sincere; he put in "five times the sincerity" of a regular tourist. The owner was moved and opened the business specifically for these two young guests.
To drive a sled, you have to learn beforehand. The owner speaks English with an accent and is very serious. Although the island doesn't have a large permanent population, it is home to people from all over the world. The tour guide said that people from about thirty countries live together here, so mastering English is very important.
Lu Mingxiao refused Secretary Jiang's translation and listened attentively on his own, and surprisingly, he understood it.
"This silver metal strip is for emergency braking, and this spiked pedal is for deceleration..." Lu Mingxiao stepped on it to try it out, and asked Jiang Huaiyu, "Did I hear that right?"
"No," Jiang Huaiyu said, "your English has indeed improved a lot."
After learning how to drive, the boss took Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu to the dog dormitory.
The dogs living here are already used to the icy and snowy environment. The small dormitories for these working dogs are rows of simple wooden cabins. To insulate them from the cold air from the ground, the cabins are supported by pillars. When the dogs hear the noise, they eagerly crawl out of the cabins, and for a moment, there is a chorus of barking.
Of course, the howling of the three sled dogs is also indispensable.
As Lu Mingxiao stood nearby, a spotted dog excitedly jumped on him, its tail wagging like a propeller, its eyes reflecting the car headlights and shining like a pair of light bulbs, seemingly saying "Choose me! Choose me!"
Lu Mingxiao: "That's not right of you. Why are you being so enthusiastic about your work?"
The boss, already aware that Lu Mingxiao's English wasn't very good, gestured as he spoke: "Work...meat..."
“They get extra meals when they work.” Jiang Huaiyu patted a husky’s head. “That’s why they’re all willing to work.”
Lu Mingxiao sighed, "We really should have sent Hu Zi here for rehabilitation so he could lose some weight."
“Tiger isn’t fat.” Jiang Huaiyu frowned. “He’s a dog of standard size.”
Lu Mingxiao: "A doting mother often spoils her son."
The owner brought them along because tourists are supposed to choose and harness the sled dogs themselves, which also allows tourists to get acquainted with the Paw Patrol dogs beforehand.
To lasso a dog, you need to make the dog sit, hold its body between your legs, and then put it on the sled. Lu Mingxiao quickly mastered the technique, and even communicated with the dogs in broken English. He successfully lassoed four dogs, while Jiang Huaiyu had only managed to lasso one. When he tried to lasso the last big dog, the excited dog couldn't sit still and stood up between Little Jiang's long legs, lunging forward...
Before President Jiang could even ride the principal's horse, he rode off on the dog.
Lu Mingxiao almost died laughing. He imitated Sun Wukong's tone and said sarcastically, "I was wondering what kind of monster it was. Turns out it's just the mount under Young Master Jiang that has become a spirit."
Jiang Huaiyu, embarrassed and annoyed, snapped, "Shut up!"
With the boss's help, the situation was brought under control, and the six dogs finally took their positions. The boss gave one last instruction: "Be sure not to overtake the dogs in front. The dogs are very competitive. Once they find themselves being overtaken, they will attack the group that overtook them, and then there will be a traffic accident."
Lu Mingxiao didn't understand this sentence, so Jiang Huaiyu translated it for him.
With everything ready, Lu Mingxiao stood behind the sled, while Jiang Huaiyu sat in the seat in front of him.
"I'm a little worried." Jiang Huaiyu asked expressionlessly, "Brother Xiao, you're very reliable, right?"
"Need I say more? Whoosh~ Let's take off~"
"Lu Mingxiao! Slow down! Do you think you're Santa Claus? You're herding a dog, not a reindeer—!!"
The dogs spread their paws and ran swiftly across the snow. Three sleds glided across the flat snowfield, leaving long tracks. The boss drove the sled ahead to clear the way for them, with Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu in the middle, and two bodyguards behind them.
After getting used to the dogs' speed, Jiang Huaiyu started to like the feeling.
He was now sitting on one of humanity's most primitive tools, traversing pristine, unpolluted lands. The wind howled across the snowfield, frosting his goggles. The cold air he breathed into his nostrils and chest transformed into a feeling called "freedom."
Jiang Huaiyu's life has never been bound by constraints, but the feeling of being embraced by the wilderness is still exhilarating.
“This is a bit like an Eskimo—!!” he shouted to Lu Mingxiao.
"What?" Lu Mingxiao opened his mouth and took a swig of pure Norwegian northwest wind: "A person who loves to peel off screen protectors?!"
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
I know you've worked part-time applying screen protectors.
The dog ran wildly across the snowfield for an hour and a half. During this time, Jiang Huaiyu and Lu Mingxiao took turns, and Lu Mingxiao sat for a while.
An hour and a half later, Young Master Jiang was so windy that he no longer wanted his freedom. Both of them had frost on their faces, and the two snowmen looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
They arrived at their destination, a huge cave formed by glaciers.
Then, you need to stop the dog.
Yes, just like drivers need to stop, those driving dogs also need to stop.
The dogs were taken out of the sled equipment and tied one by one to the prepared leashes. They lined up in an orderly fashion to rest, so that no one could bite anyone else and to avoid unnecessary disputes.
It was noon in Svalbard, the sky was a deep blue, and looking up it resembled the deep sea, with the stars appearing as tiny schools of fish.
If you don't see the aurora borealis, there won't be enough light above these ice caves. In the dim light, the ice caves won't be very interesting; they'll just be a blurry, indistinct mass.
This is actually the place Jiang Huaiyu planned to visit to see the aurora.
Once the aurora appears, these crystal-clear ice caves will display magnificent colors, like a piece of polished green crystal. He had seen pictures of them in some travel guides, and they were very beautiful.
The group found a sheltered spot to rest, took out the self-heating food they had brought, and ate while waiting for the aurora to appear.
Unfortunately, even after we finished eating and waited for another half hour, it still didn't arrive.
The boss gently reminded them not to delay their upcoming itinerary.
Jiang Huaiyu was a little disappointed.
Lu Mingxiao nudged him gently with his elbow: "Didn't you see it yesterday? Lucky Jiang Xiaoyu, you can't see all the aurora borealis by yourself, right? You have to leave some for others."
Jiang Huaiyu laughed out loud: "It wasn't a 100% chance of seeing it anyway, and I was prepared for that. Why are you talking to me like you're coaxing a child?"
“Who says only children need to be coaxed?” Lu Mingxiao said seriously, “Even little fish need to be coaxed.”
That lingering gloom was silently blown away by the Arctic wind. Jiang Huaiyu nudged him with her elbow: "Let's go, next project, the snowmobile you're most looking forward to."
"Can I say I've given up hope...?" Lu Mingxiao touched the still-unmelted ice shards on his eyebrows: "I'm going to get beaten up by the Norwegian winds again."
Jiang Huaiyu touched his own eyebrows and found the same thing.
Riding a snowmobile is indeed much faster than a dog sled, which also means it's colder. Fortunately, you still need to wear several layers of warm clothing. The owner of Paw Patrol took them to the snowmobile shop, which was full of professional windproof suits. Lu Mingxiao and Jiang Huaiyu, their two bodyguards, put on several more layers, making them look like Teletubbies.
Lu Mingxiao sauntered over to a Teletubby and hooked his arm around the person's shoulder: "Jiang Xiaoyu, I feel like that astronaut right now. Have you seen that Xizhilang commercial?"
The person whose shoulder he had hooked around turned around in confusion: "What?"
Upon closer inspection, Lu Mingxiao exclaimed, "Oh my, isn't this one of the two foreigners who kissed on the ship yesterday?"
Startled, he dropped his grip and quickly said, "Sorry."
"Lu Mingxiao!" Teletubbies-like Jiang Xiaoyu walked over, pulling the bewildered Xizhilang astronaut away. Jiang Huaiyu, with only his eyes visible, could be seen smiling: "Don't you always put your arm around anyone? You just mistook someone for someone else, why are you shouting so loudly?"
“That’s not the same!” Lu Mingxiao said in a low voice, “He likes men…”
"Oh," Jiang Huaiyu casually remarked, "Aren't you the same?"
The little fish Teletubby wobbled away, leaving Lu Mingxiao standing there, his temper flaring.
Even after mounting the snowmobile, Lu Mingxiao was still thinking about Jiang Xiaoyu's words, "Aren't you the same?"
Sure enough, Jiang Huaiyu was so clever and cunning, how could she not see through his thoughts? And yet, even after seeing through his thoughts, she was still willing to accept his ambiguous actions done in the name of "brotherhood"...
Beneath the thick windproof mask, Lu Mingxiao curled his lips into a smile that grew wider and wider.
Jiang Huaiyu sat right behind him and loudly reminded him, "Lu Mingxiao, we're about to leave! What are you daydreaming about?"
"It's nothing, I was just thinking about one of my brothers!" Lu Mingxiao started his motorcycle.
"Let's go, the next stop will definitely have the aurora!"
That's right. With Xiao Jiang's meticulousness, how could he not have a backup plan?
Their next stop on their motorcycles was a cabin nestled in a valley, a famous spot for aurora viewing, where they could also sample local delicacies.
The snowmobiles in Longyearbyen can carry two people, requiring a certain level of coordination between the driver and passenger. When turning, both people need to exert force in the same direction. Lu Mingxiao was originally full of confidence in the coordination between the two, but after this lap of the snowmobile, his confidence was shattered.
Fortunately, they arrived at the cabin in the valley without incident. However, Xiao Jiang elbowed him in the waist several times. If he hadn't been wearing thick clothes, Lu Mingxiao felt that he would have suffered internal injuries.
"What can I do?" Jiang Huaiyu sat by the fire in the hut to warm her hands. "I feel like you don't move when you should be bending, and you're wearing so many thick clothes that you can't hear me when I speak."
Lu Mingxiao: "I said Mr. Jiang's elbow strike was good. You've worked hard. Have some soup to warm yourself up."
Jiang Huaiyu smiled slightly and gently blew on the soup.
Inside the cabin was only a table with a brazier in the center. Besides Jiang Huaiyu and her group of four, there were four other tourists. They sat around the table, talking in English with different accents. Lu Mingxiao started to show off his social terrorist skills again, chatting enthusiastically with an Italian. Neither of them spoke very well in English, so they talked and gestured, like they were using sign language. In the end, Lu Mingxiao even exchanged souvenirs with the Italian man.
Jiang Huaiyu: ...
It's amazing, really amazing.
The entire cabin was filled with the warm aroma of food when someone shouted, "It's the aurora borealis!"
So a group of people came out of the cabin and stood in the valley.
The undulating mountains perfectly blocked the town's lights. Above the pure white snowfield, a beam of light, like a flame, danced lightly. It was a magnificent purple, like a nebula descending from the deep blue night sky, with several lush green streaks appearing alternately in between. The beam of light danced and gradually meandered, forming a whole purple veil that illuminated half the sky.
The snowfield was also tinged with color, and everything became magnificent and hazy.
"It's a purple aurora!" Jiang Huaiyu jumped up and down excitedly. "The kind that's so rare! Lu Mingxiao, you said there would be an aurora, and it really is!"
Lu Mingxiao thought the Teletubby was really cute, as if it was saying that he had summoned the aurora.
He grabbed Jiang Huaiyu's hand and nudged her gently with his elbow.
"See, my words are very accurate," he said with a smile. "Tomorrow is the new year."
"Jiang Xiaoyu, may the new year bring you peace and safety, and..."
Jiang Huaiyu tilted her head and looked at him: "What else?"
“And…” Lu Mingxiao turned to look at the aurora, his ears burning under his thick windproof suit: “And the snow will slowly melt, and I hope we can hold hands again when the roads are no longer slippery.”
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